Improved rail for railways



J. H. MOORE. RAIL PORRAILWAYS.

Patented Jan. 19, 1869.

'wsses JQSEPH H. MOORE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Letters Patent No. 86,093, dated J amiamy 19, 1869.

HIIPROVED RAIL FOR RAILWAYS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosEPH H. MOORE, of the city of Chicago, inthe-county of Gook,'and State of constructing rail for railways inparts, so that the parts can be made of different material; in making adetachable steel head or tread, and a strong soft-iron base or web; inconnecting the steel head by concave neck, so that if it should bebroken, it will not thereby become displaced; and in arranging the threeprincipal parts, so that when a weight is placed or runs over them, theaction of the weight will tend to make the sides press against the neckwith increased force.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

The head A is made of steel, and the top is curved in the usual manner,and it is made of the usual size.

The under side is made with straight lines running to the neck a.This-neck (0 extends down about one inch, and has concave sides, withprojections 11 fitting into them.

It will be obvious that grooves or other forms of fastenings can be usedin place of the concave sides, but I prefer them made as shown.

The sides B are made of separate pieces of soft iron, and curved asshown, so that when placed on the track of a road, the appearance of therail Willnot differ much from the appearance of the ordinaryurail. Atthe upper edge, these side pieces are made to fit the shoulder of thehead A, and near the upper edge, on the inside, are projections 72fitting into the sides of the neck a.

In laying the rails, care should be taken, so that the joints of thesides shall not come opposite to each other, or in line with the joint-sof the head, but so that in all cases they will break joints, as shown.

Wherever a joint occurs in the side pieces, I place beneath the rail aniron cushion or chair, 0, which is made of suitable plate-metal, androlled, pressed, or otherwise formed into the shape shown, which formsThe nature and object of my invention consist in a support for thebottom of the side-pieces B, and also a shoulder for the lower interiorcurve, so as to prevent them from being driven together while beingspiked or fastened to the cross-ties. This object, however, can beaccomplished by driving in billets or wedges of wood, or blocks ofmetal, and chairs dispensed with entirely.

The sides B are secured together by the rods, bolts, or spikes d, justbelow the neck 0.

These bolts or ties d are a little smaller than the holes in the sidesB, and hold by their heads or bent portions, so that when there isaweight upon the rail, these bolts or ties will act asfulcra, andthe'web as a long arm of a lever, and thereby hold the neck of a rail asin a vise-the greater the weight upon the rail, the greater the gripe onthe sides of the neck.

Ifthe tread ofthc rail should bebroken intoa nnmber of pieces, no harmwould come of it, as the pieces would be held in place, and if, by anypossibility, any piece should come out,'the train would not then bethrown from the track, as there would be enough of the rail left toguide the wheels. As the sides are made to break joint, it would seldom,if ever, occur that all of the pieces wouldbc broken at the same place.

So far as the clamping of the neck of a separate head is concerned, thehead need not be made of steel; but to make my improved rail practicallyuseful as a wearing rail, and as a device to prevent accidents,

which oec-nr by breakage of the rails as now made, I prefer steel heads.p

The head A can be taken out at any time by withdrawing the spikes, andbringing'the lower edges together, which releases their hold upon theneck of the head.

I do not claim making a rail in three sections, nor do I claim makingthe head or tread of steel, and the sides of iron.

Having thus fully described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isr l. Thecombination and arrangement of the head A and sides B B with the loosebolt or tie d, so as to make the sides clamp the neck of the head,substantially as specified.

2. The combination and arrangement of the head A, provided with the necka, the sides B B, provided with the curve or projections 71, and rod ortie d, with the curved chair or cushion (l, substantially as and for thepurposes specified.

JOS." H. MOORE.

Witnesses;

L. L. Bonn, E. A. Wnsr.

